The lobby of Fishers construction firm Meyer Najem is filled with industry accolades. In February, for the second time in five years, the Indiana Subcontractors Association named it Contractor of the Year for firms under $100 million in annual revenue.

Alongside those awards and others for safety and projects of the year sits a growing collection of Top Workplace honors. The company has been in the top 10 of small companies in Indiana for the past five years, and in four of those years it has finished first or second.

“We don’t make a conscious effort to be on the list,” said Andrew Habel, a senior project manager who has been with the company nine years. “It’s just the culture we have.”

It’s a culture in which practical jokes are the norm and Fridays after work are spent hanging out at a local restaurant having drinks and catching up.

A Work Life Balance committee plans employee events throughout the year. From group outings to see the Indiana Ice and Indianapolis Indians to monthly company barbecues in the parking lot at headquarters to wine and beer tastings, the emphasis is on creating an environment in which employees and their families can gather and bond while leaving behind the stresses of the workplace.

“It’s enjoying to come to work to a place where you’re friends with people,” Habel said.

This year Meyer Najem also was given the special award for new ideas. All of the company’s field supervisors, project managers and executives use iPads to streamline project documentation using cloud computing.

“Our culture allows for innovative thinking,” said senior project manager Adam Filler. “You’re pushed to excel. The group as a whole is motivated. Motivated for growth. Motivated to be best in class. Ultimately it’s the employees and culture that allow for that creative thinking to occur. It’ not stifled by ‘this is the way we’re going to do it’ attitude.”

Added Michael Mattingly, who does pre-construction cost estimates: “There is a strong level of trust within each other. There’s a strong level of responsibility, as well. And I think the company does a real good job of allocating the right people for those roles. And in turn it produces an exciting place to work.”